


Peaceful, the World Lays Us Down

by orphan_account



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, Not Related, not a songfic i promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-11 01:46:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5609209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With every timeline, he belongs to her. With every new universe, they share the same melody.</p><p>THIS WONT BE UPDATED DUE TO THE FACT I AM NOT INVOLVED WITH REYLO ANYMORE</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. & Peaceful

**Author's Note:**

> I really really really love this AU idea, please enjoy!! Lyrics are from Noah & the Whale

_Oh, well it's hard to look deep into your soul._

_Not everything you'll find will be perfect gold._

_There are ghosts and demons that hide in the dark._

 He’s a sandstorm and she’s a hurricane. When she dips into his mind for the first time, it’s a rush. Whiplash. His thoughts are like thick clouds that blanket his honesty. She grits her teeth and leans her head towards him. Closer. He furrows his brow and bites his lip. Displacement. When he dives into her mind and can only go knee deep into her ocean before she shuts him out. No one has ever resisted him before.

They meet again in the snow, she's full of raw power. He can't win, she walks away from the opportunity to end him. When he finally has a moment to sit and reflect on the scavenger, she's hard to grasp. He belongs to her instantly.

_Oh, they wait till I find love and then they laugh._

_Oh, they know that my body is no way good enough._

_Know that my heart is no way strong enough to bare the sorrow that love brings._

 They’ve been here for hours. Sitting. At least he’s sitting, her head in on his lap and her hair is sprawled out onto the pasture below them. Ben Solo runs his hand against her hair, his ray of sunshine, she laughs at the pun. Kylo Ren has never been born. His parents stand a few feet away and are laughing to themselves about some other unspecific matter. His uncle emerges and stands with the two, they’re all so happy.

 Rey reaches up to him and strokes his face, her love, the man who saved her from the lonely sand. Now he’s her sandstorm. He belongs to her forever.

_Oh, when I coil in fear, oh, the demons sing._

 Her robes are black and her hood is drawn. They’ve been clashing with their swords of pure light since the sun fell. He pulls to her, pleading with her to see his side of things. She aims for his heart, and in a twisted sense she’s already there, he counters before she can take the breath out of him, once again she’s already taken his entire pair of lungs. He can sense the anger in her, so much pain for one small young woman. She breaks his nose and he kicks her legs out from under her.

 She’s not Rey. Her heart is cold, as if it’s stopped. When she holds her saber at his throat, his knees almost buckle. They could be an unstoppable force for good, he reminds her. She takes his breath away. He belongs to her in his last breath.

_But it's a hollow love for a heart with no blood;_

_In its veins._

 His lips are on her forehead, her hands are tied together. She’s trying to pull away but can’t quite get her body to follow her commands. When he closes his eyes he can see her in the most exquisite black dresses, standing by his side, the two of them against the galaxy. He promises her this is the best way, _stay safe, stay with me._ She bit his lip the first time he tried to kiss her, now she stands still, eventually she’ll break. He yearns for her, aching, a soul deprived. He tells her that the galaxy is against her, but here she’s safe, _safe with me, as long as you’re mine_.

 The girl hides her face in his chest and he has never felt such joy. There is no peace, only passion, his training is true. His mask is discarded on the floor. He belongs to his perception of her.

_When we're all just matter that will one day scatter,_

_when peaceful, the world lays us down._

 She’s screaming over the traitor’s body. Her tears, with a mix of her blood, drip onto the ex-stormtrooper’s neck. She’s still beautiful, even when she’s sad. His lightsaber cut so easily through the boy’s flesh, he didn’t even try to kill him, it was just too easy. Rey’s throat is hoarse and she cannot contain the grief that wells up inside of her. How dare he, the man who once promised his love to her, murder the closest family she’s ever had. How dare she, she reflects, ever view this man as human. Kylo Ren stands above her, he wants to touch her skin, remind her why he’s worth her time.

 Rey screams until there is no more air in her lungs or voice on her lips. She curses him, he stands still through the entire night. He belongs to her feelings of hatred.

_Oh, and we cornered the thing from which all life will spring._

_And it gave value to the world that surrounds us._

She’s still young when he’s officially deemed a padawan. When their master has to go away for affairs, he looks after her. There are a dozen other younglings running around, but she’s special. She’s shy and doesn’t open up to anybody but him, it’s been that way since they first brought her here. As the years pass they grow older, but their bond remains strong. He’s soon a Jedi Knight and is to be given a padawan, he prays it’s her. Master Skywalker says it won’t be good for him to strengthen that bond further right now. Within more time, she’s a Jedi Knight too.

 She’s looked up to him all her life, now she looks into his eyes. Their bond has changed with each year, now they are equals. He belongs to every moment with her.

_But we consider the world just for a moment,_

_Oh, and it's gone before we even know._

 She has a family, they’re always busy. He has two parents, they love him in their own ways. Rey is born into the light, he is born on space. She goes to a nice school and gets a job at a diner. He is trained by his uncle and smuggles with his father. She marries because her family arranges it, he never feels his heart skip a beat. His father and him once fly over her homeworld, she’s never seen space. She’s never heard of a lightsaber before, neither know ‘Jakku’ even exists. Her husband mentions the whispers of a growing rebellion that have been passed around, he inherits the Falcon when his father doesn’t deliver his debt. They live in silent ignorance. It’s a simple life for both of them.

 She never does end up breaking her home planet’s atmosphere, he never looks back at his uncle’s teachings. It’s their existence, it’s all they know. He never belongs to her.  

_Oh, but I'll follow it 'round,_

_Yeah, I'll follow it 'round._

_Oh, I'll follow it 'round,_

_Yeah, I'll follow it 'round._

 Their hearts are in sync, beating together. He exhales, she inhales. He inhales, she exhales. Her skin is home.  He belongs to her. She belongs to him.

_'Till peaceful, the world lays me down._

 


	2. The Demons Sing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When I coil in fear, oh the demons sing.  
> An expansion on Rey's dance with the dark side and Ben's rightful place as a Solo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO many asked for an expansion of dark side!Rey, so here it is!

_You were blown out of the water._

_Oh, and we walk on the feet we have grown._

_Oh we were given a heart, of which love was a part._

 Her eyes are darker, her face is fallen. Dark bags hang around her skin, she’s colder. Rey doesn’t even remember being called that, it’s like a secretive whisper she once heard on Jakku. Her master has rebirthed her with a new title, Malhan Ren, as she is also the leader of the Knights of Ren. The apprentice’s lightsaber is a red dual blade, quite like one she found while studying the Siths of old, the weapon of Darth Maul. The voice modulator on her mask twists her voice into a computerized male, she loves the look of shock on her victim’s faces.

 His skin is tan, being more exposed to the sun than he had in a previously life he will never know. He eats meals with his parents and trains with his uncle in the mornings and evenings. Ben’s father jokes about giving him the Falcon one day, if he can find it. The padawan constructed his lightsaber to be similar to Obi-Wan Kenobi’s, who he has heard so much about, he looks up to him. Luke’s stories of “Old Ben” are the boy’s absolute favorites. His namesake. He’s never taken a life before. Part of him hopes he never does.

 They sense each other before they even know of the other’s existence. Ben brings it up during a meditation session with his master, “I feel another soul in tune with mine.” Her aura is dark, as if the depths of a cavern unexplored by any man. Luke tries to discover what’s plaguing his nephew’s senses, it’s a riddle.

 Ren is reflecting on sand, imagining it shifting through her fingertips. This is where her power is drawn from. Her hate, her loathing, her suffering, the grains of sand hold all of it. If Rey closes her eyes, she can feel the bitter taste of grains on her tongue and between her teeth, as well as the hot sun beating down upon her tearful face. If she listens, she can hear her ignored pleas for help. The Knight clenches her fists in anger, power fluxing through her body.

 Ben pulls at the force connection one night, he’s in his room and trying to sleep; curiosity is jerking at his mind too much to settle down. So he tugs, reaching out for whatever is at the end of this invisible thread, no response. He yanks again. Uncle Luke says there hasn’t been a force connection between two people, who hadn't met each other before like in Ben’s case, since before the boy’s grandfather was even born. The padawan frowns. If there’s one trait he received from both parents, it’s stubbornness.

He pulls.

 Malhan Ren is training when she loses control of the ability to focus. Phasma, a sparring partner of hers, knocks her over in her mental absence. The apprentice grits her teeth, getting back up again.

He pulls.

Her mind is fuzzy and she isn’t able to dodge another attack. ‘ _Focus, Ren,_ ’ she hisses to herself.

He pulls.

  The knight leaves the training room in a huff, using every curse she’s heard from the lowest scum on Jakku as she enters her quarters. Her mask comes off first and there she is, Rey. Yet still, she does not know that name.

He pulls, mindlessly now, he’s getting bored of the quiet.

When the apprentice begins to control her breaths and find herself in sync with the force, she finds him. Ren can feel the presence of another living being. He's lighter than her own force signature, yet almost as bright and powerful.

She pulls.

 Ben’s eyes shoot open at the feeling of her. He still doesn’t understand, but he feels as if he doesn’t need to. When his master asks him later about it, he says that nothing came of it. Luke is offended that his nephew would lie to him, he taught the boy how to lie. Along with his father.

 They pull occasionally at each other, nothing more than that. It almost becomes a game at times.

 Malhan Ren and Ben Solo meet for the first time in battle. The First Order has stormed a planet and is fighting for occupation. The Resistance, of course, is ruining their plans. Ren’s saber is coming down to execute a rebel fighter but his blade intercepts hers.

He pulls.

 The padawan isn’t afraid of the knight in a mask, he simply swings the blade in his hand, issuing a challenge. It’s been so long since Rey has battled against a lightsaber. Her double-bladed sword spins around her body before she charges him. Ben meets every stroke, his courage never wavering as he stands on the defensive.

She pulls.

Now is not the time for the force connection to be tearing him away, he curses to himself.

 Ren leads him into a more secluded part of the terrain their alignments are battling for. Both stop for a moment to catch a breath, their sabers held out as if they could strike at any moment. The Knight takes this moment as an opportunity to scan through her opponent's mind. Who is he?

“Luke Skywalker,” she almost gasps, her voice modulator makes it sound more as if she is in awe. “The chosen padawan of Luke Skywalker, the son of the Resistance General and a man caught up in a war that is not his own,” she hums.

Ben’s free hand flies to his head, “how’re you doing this?” he hisses.

 “I’m not done,” she continues, “named for a jedi long gone, the mentor of Darth Vader.” Rey stops and genuinely takes the boy in now, the grandson of Darth Vader. He doesn’t look as menacing.

“Get out of my head,” the padawan raises his weapon in front of him towards Ren, as if showing her the consequences of her probing. His temper begins to rise.

  Rey takes him up on his invitation, her blade swinging towards him. Ben jumps and slides beside her, thrashing at both sides of her sword. He almost admires how well she can handle the staff.

She pulls.

 The padawan grits his teeth, pulling back on the force connection in frustration as he lashes out against his opponent. Perhaps if he yanks hard enough it will go away.

Ren feels the pull so harshly that he winces. Ben watches.

Then everything is clear.

 “The force is strong within you,” Ben says as their sabers clash against each other, each side pressing their weight against the other. Rey bites her lip. Her silence is all the answer he needs, “don’t be afraid, I feel it too.”

 With Ben’s words, the puzzle is put together. They are the ones held by the invisible thread, connected, not by choice.

“When I imagined what this link would be, I must admit I did not think it would be with a masked beast,” the padawan chokes out, as if making a joke to himself.

 This is her favorite moment of battle, “that is what you think of me?” Ren extinguishes her lightsaber to press a button on her helmet. Her mask hisses as it decompresses and she takes it from her face. “Perhaps Skywalker has not taught you as well as you think,” Rey only gives the man a moment to adjust before her blade is drawn again and she’s aiming for his weakest point.

 Ben almost staggers back at the reveal of her identity. Brown hair now falls to frame her face, her eyes are hazel and her skin is pale from lack of sun. When their eyes meet, for a brief moment before they are once again engaged in combat, it’s like they’re united.

 The rest of their fight doesn't last much longer, the First Order calls for a retreat and informs Malhan Ren that a transport is headed her way. She decides to leave him here, let him strike fear into the Resistance that the great leader has taken an apprentice. 

 Before Hux can get to her, Rey holds a hand up to Ben’s forehead. Ben freezes. The knight flicks her wrist and the padawan is instantly unconscious, she catches him right before he hits the ground. She doesn’t know why.

Ben tells Luke all about the phantom “Malhan Ren.” Luke isn’t happy with the news.

 They meet again when her ship has crashed along the outer rim and he just happens to be passing by. He reads her emergency signal on his scanners, the Falcon has been brought home, he steals it for missions just to annoy his father.

 When he calls out to her on the Falcon’s communicator, neither know the other’s identity. She’s fine, her transmission says, her ship was gunned down and she knows how to repair it. She’s lacking needed parts.

He has the parts. A match.

“Stay where you are,” he halfheartedly jokes. Something his father would say. The voice on the other end isn’t very amused.

 He’s the first to feel her force signature and considers turning back. When he lands, it’s not an evil apprentice of the First Order he meets. There’s no girl in a black mask and dual red blades. It’s a young woman with grease on her face, her hair pulled into a complex and messy hairstyle, a black jumpsuit covering her torso. Ben raises an eyebrow at the sight.

“Not you,” Rey rolls her eyes.

“Pleasure,” he says sarcastically.

“I don’t need help from you,” she grits out, already turning away from the boy.

“You’re stranded in the outer rim of deep space, I think you’ll take what you get,” Ben tries to control his rising temper with her attitude.

 Rey turns back and her gaze shifts to the lightsaber on his belt. The padawan looks to her own body, her belt is missing. “It’s inside, don’t even think about it,” she warns.

“Don’t read my thoughts,” he bites.

The two stand rooted to their spots, glaring at each other.

“Do you want to get off this hole in the galaxy or not?” he asks, one more time.

  _‘The grandson of Vader’_ , she thinks internally. He has dark eyes to match his hair, he’s much taller and broader than she is. Probably older too. They can’t meet each other’s eyes standing next to one another. When the apprentice scans over him again she can feel raw power in his veins. He’s gifted for sure. What a waste of abilities.

He’s not entirely bad looking either.

“I’ll help you fix your ship and then we can go our separate ways and never meet like this again,” this is the last time he’s offering, his patience is wearing thin.

“I don’t need help fixing my ship,” she snaps, “I just need a pilot wrench for the main hyperdrive and cooling system.”

 Ben smirks, enjoying that he has the upper hand, “I’ve been repairing hyperdrives since before I knew my own name. Wait here.”

 Rey watches the padawan’s figure disappears into his freighter. The breeze blows cold air against her bare arms and she shivers, impatiently shifting her weight from one foot to another. When Ben comes back he hands her the wrench, as well as a small metal box. “Thank you,” Ren mumbles begrudgingly.

The girl opens the tin he’s also pushed into her hands, “what is this for?”

He pulls.

“If you don’t have simple engine tools, I assume you don’t have a big food supply either. That should cover you for the next few days,” Ren shrugs and continues walking past her towards her transport.

Rey tries to stifle out a “thank you” but her throat runs dry. He doesn’t notice. He doesn’t care.

She pulls instead.

He pulls right back.

 He works alongside her as she fixes up the broken systems, it’s a trial and error process. Ben makes it a goal to make her think, truly think, about her loyalties before he leaves. They don’t work badly together. When their task is finished, he lingers behind her for a moment too long. She actually breaks into a soft smile at the small victory. 

“The supplies are - uh appreciated,” Ren stammers out and Ben knows it’s the closest thing he’ll get to a proper thanks.

“You’re welcome,” he meets the knight’s wandering gaze. Something bright flashes behind both their eyes.

 The pair don’t meet again for many moon cycles. When Rey steps into the interrogation room and sees the captured Ben Solo strapped down, she almost laughs.

 Malhan Ren’s mask is the first thing he notices when the door hisses open, the image of her eyes has been burned into his mind since their last meeting. Something deep within his stomach twists.

He pulls.

 “What a pleasure to have the Resistance’s own golden child on board,” she sneers and he shrugs. Solo’s nonchalant posture bothers Rey, he’s too calm to be intimidated. So he thinks. “I assume you’ve already been welcomed,” she refers to the squad that tried to draw Resistance plans before she was sent.

“Tell them their gesture was appreciated,” he hums. Rey prays his sarcasm will be the death of him.

She pulls.

 Before he can make another snide comment, he spits blood out to the floor beside her. He’s bleeding at his lips and his nose. The padawan has also begun to grow a beard, she notices, the red fluid has matted down hairs in his moustache and goatee. He wasn’t cooperative, she rolls her eyes.

“Go ahead,” he searches for her eyes amidst the black metal, “take what you want.”

 Rey reaches for her mask and meets his calm glance with a harsh glare of her own. When the knight reaches into the mind of the man before her, she sees herself. He brings to mind the image of a girl, lightsaber drawn, the blade a beautiful emerald. Ben stands behind her, their backs almost touching, his crystal blue sword in his hands, they banter back and forth as they work together.

 Ben pulls when he projects the next image. She’s in the co-pilot seat of the Falcon, laughing at something he says as they jump into hyperspace. Their hands brush against each other and her heart skips a beat. She’s happy. He’s happy.

 One last one, Ben decides. Luke’s teaching her. She has a braid falling down to her shoulder and she laughs and jokingly swats his hand away when he yanks on it. Rey’s power is still in tact, she’s a force to be reckoned with. Skywalker has helped her release her hate, she’s light. Ben's hand falls onto the back of her waist and he whispers something low in her ear.

 “Stop,” Rey snaps and moves away from her prisoner, “run back to your master and tell him your mission didn’t work.”

“My mission?” he raises an eyebrow.

“If the Resistance has sent you to convince me to join your ranks-”

“I came on my own accord, Rey”

 The sound of her name on his lips make her shudder. She hasn’t heard the syllables in so long, her own master banned the word from ever being spoken. He's in her head for a brief moment. Ren can feel the gentle touch of his long fingers upon her. He's so warm and she's so cold, a part of her years to be near him to soak up the sun. 

“I can look into your mind too,” he mumbles under his breath. Rey grits her teeth in frustration. “Your master is leading you to your own slaughter,” Ben challenges her.

She scoffs, “my master has allowed me to unlock power you cannot even understand.”

“He’ll use it to destroy you. Come back with me, Skywalker will teach you more than your great leader ever could,” his face is so strong, so sure of himself.

Rey’s eyes brighten, as if for just a moment the invitation passes through her mind, before she turns away and walks out of the room without another thought. 

He pulls.

She doesn't pull back.

  They don’t meet again until on the battlefield. She curses at him loudly as their sabers lock and he takes it, lashing out a few choice words of his own when she makes him angry enough. It's an epic rampage, a storm, hearts at war as well as blades. Ren pulls the upperhand. She's empty minutes later. He belongs to her in his last breath.

She pulls. 

He doesn't pull back.

_Peaceful, the world lays us down._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Malhan Ren derives from the Welsh name, Malha, which means queen.  
> Ren comes from the Knight of Ren obvi
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a comment and kudos & let me know what other alternate timeline you'd like to hear more about :)))))

**Author's Note:**

> don't forget to comment and leave a kudos please! have a wonderful day srry this got sad also please check out my Soul Affinity series, if you're in the mood for more Reylo :))))


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